When is the "complete" first season not the complete first season? Why when it is missing all six episodes of the true first season. When the "Cagney & Lacey" pilot aired it featured Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H) as Cagney and, later, Meg Foster in the role of the first six episodes. Foster was replaced at the network's insistence (they felt that she was playing the role of Cagney as too butch and might alienated TV viewers as a result). The only consistent part of the show was Tyne Daly as Lacey through every single incarnation of the series. The chemistry on the show changed subtly with each recasting. While Gless is perfect in the part of Cagney (and was originally supposed to play Cagney but couldn't because of a contract with Universal Studios) fans should be aware that the pilot and the key first six episodes featuring Foster are missing from this set. We do get 22 of the second season episodes featuring Gless and Daly (which is really a second season as the first season was a mid-season replacement) which is masquerading as the first season in release. Why the first season is still MIA is beyond me (perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the show's popularity and profile increased once Gless and Daly clicked on screen). ***

"Cagney & Lacey" was groundbreaking television at the time it appeared in 1981 (for the pilot). A show based around two police detectives both female was unusual for the time. In fact the original script was originally written by Barbara Avedon in 1975 no one would touch the show. Producer/writer Barbara Corday and producer/writer Barney Rosenzweig approached the show like they would any other cop show but put a bit more emphasis on the character development and platonic relationship of these partners. As a sign of the times, it's more likely that you'll see police women with other women for partners on TV because of this show. ---

Image & Sound:

The show looks quite good with nice colors and probably looks better than it ever did on broadcast TV keep in mind though that high definition television are more likely to reveal the flaws that analog TV was forgiving of. Images are occasionally soft which isn't a surprise given that the show is over 20 years old. Overall this is a fine if not perfect transfer. Audio sounds fine and is presented in the original mono. I can't complain because dialogue is clear throughout. ---

It would have been nice to include both the pilot and the first six episodes of "season one" as extras in this set but that didn't happen. Perhaps we'll see these released within the forthcoming months. What we do get are two fine featurettes on the show and its development. Producer/writer Barry Rosenzweig discusses his ongoing battle to keep the show on the air and keep network interference to a minimum regarding storylines. Tyne Daly also appears pointing out that she took Gless out to drinks to talk her into doing a weekly network TV show again after Foster was let go. A couple of rounds later Gless was in and she racked up a number of Emmy wins and nominations (as did Daly) while she was with the show during its seven season run.

Final Words: